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Eagle Rock Royal National Park

Curracurrong Falls, or Eagle Rock in Royal National Park, is one of those rare waterfalls that sometimes looks like it's flowing upwards. It can happen when the wind is strong enough to blow the water droplets back up before seemingly disappearing as mist. The churning ocean below shows the day's wild weather. The waterfall is impressive after sustained rainfall and an extra special sight in windy conditions.

That's Eagle Rock in the top right hand of the picture. Can you pick out the shape of the eagle's beak? It's the iconic imagery on signs for Royal National Park.

Such a large overhang is a rare sight. The heavy Hawkesbury Sandstone usually needs supportive rock underneath or adjoining blocks to lock it in place. But Eagle Rock is unsupported so it's a ticking time bomb before – boom – gravity takes its toll and it smashes into the water below. The tricky thing about the natural world is that it doesn't tell you exactly when it's going to drop a rock the size of a double-decker bus… like this one at Sydney's North Head. So yeah, not a great idea to go off track and sit on it.

This vantage point of Eagle Rock from the cliffs at Curracurrong Creek is about an hour's walk south of Wattamolla on the Coast Track in Royal National Park. Download a map now (detailed track notes coming soon).

Tara Wells co-owns Sydney Coast Walks, and co-hosts new podcast This Hiking Life with her husband Ian Wells. She is a journalist and former TV and radio producer/presenter who’s delighted to combine her love of hiking with story-telling.